Saturday 11th February, 2017

We spent a week in Rodney Bay, cleaning and scrubbing the yacht and having the hull and stainless steel polished as there was so much salt everywhere.  We also did the walk, which we both needed to do and it was cool enough, to Pigeon Island and up the hill to the fort and then a steeper hill to the another fort.  The last photo shows a panoramic view Rodney Bay from the top.  So pleased we did it as it is full of history and the old guns are still up there to defend St. Lucia against the French.

Opposite us on the pontoon were a couple in a brand new Oyster ‘Askari’ called Andrew and Carolyn. We got chatting with them and they said there were a young couple looking for a sail down to Bequia where they were buying a boat, so J and I discussed it and said yes we would give them a lift down there.  We organised for them to join us in Marigot Bay the next morning as we were due to sail down there that afternoon to meet Tina McFarlane off her flight as she was joining us for ten days on board.  We picked the young couple up, Jackson Rogers and Semadar Zmisia, from the pontoon the next morning at 8 a.m.  for our days sail to Bequia arriving there at 17.45.  They were a sweet couple, he was in his mid thirties though and just decided he wanted adventure, she was Israeli so it was interesting talking to her about life there.  We took them across to the small boat they were buying, it needed quite a bit doing to it.  I was a little dubious about their sailing skills as he appeared not to know how to tie the warp on to the buoy we picked up even though I showed him with the first warp I tied on, they were very eager to leave and not keen on helping us tidy away our sheets etc.  Jonathan arranged to check them in from our yacht the next morning at Immigration so he held their passports still, at check in there were problems as they had no t checked out properly and there were a few irregularities so it took him nearly all morning to get it sorted.  

‘Askari’ arrived in the bay at about the same time as us, much to our surprise as they had originally said they were heading north and that’s why they could not take the young couple……

Andrew and Carolyn joined us on board for drinks then we went over to Jack’s for a very mediocre dinner.  We went across to them for coffee the following morning and had a look around their yacht which was VERY neat and tidy.  Tina got settled in we spent the day off Princess Margaret Beach swimming and snorkelling and went ashore to the town to provision the next morning to check out and for Tina to have a look around.  We then anchored behind Petit Nevis, the old Whaling station, to snorkel but it was very rolley and windy.

 We sailed on to Mustique.  It was very, very windy and very rough, we were swinging and rolling in the bay with big rain squalls coming through. Consequently we decided not to picnic on Macaroni Beach for my Birthday, instead we went to the Beach cafe at the Cotton House for lunch which was very pleasant courtesy of Tina.  On the way back we got the taxi to drop me off at the car rental place where I organised the rental of a ‘mule’ as they are called there in fact it was a mini-moke; we had been told that yachties were no longer allowed to rent cars on the island due to the fact that some French yachties went swimming in a villas private pool and so were thrown off the island, security had become stricter.  The chap at the rental recognised our yacht’s name and me and said ‘oh you have rented last year several times, we know you are not a security risk so, yes, you may have a car tomorrow’  yippee!

 In the evening we went up to Firefly, it is a lovely venue but very, very badly managed.  Jonathan had booked a table for the three of us, they had only had us down as two.  We sat and hand drinks on the terrace, which is lovely, then they said our table was ready, after over an hour, we found the table laid up for four, the service was snail pace, we know in the Caribbean that life is slow and that is fine, but this was slower than slow and a ‘Can’t be bothered’ attitude.  The manageress meanwhile sat at the bar smoking and drinking wine and not really concerned about how the staff were coping, the food was awful.  We won’t be going back.  The Firefly ride back to the pontoon should have been part of the package, they shrugged their shoulders and said Oh there isn’t a car, one of the staffs ‘brothers’ gave us a lift down the hill.  

The following morning proved to be sunnier but still windy, so I made up a picnic and off we set to tour the island with Tina sitting in the front as she had not seen it before, then having lunch and a very lazy afternoon on the beach.  J was looking VERY tired and fell sound asleep in the shade, Tina was developing a cold which she caught on the flight.

That evening Jonathan came up in a rash, similar to heat bumps or urticaria (which he has had before) but this time they were much more raised and it hurt like mad if touched.  Consequently I made him go and see the doctor on Mustique, whom I had met 8 years ago, a very nice chap.  One look and Jonathan has been diagnosed with Shingles. No wonder he was feeling so tired and not himself over the last few days.  At least we caught the rash early and he has anti viral drugs which will help clear it up, meanwhile I am dabbing Chamoline lotion on it to cool it and to help them dry. The danger period is when they become more pustule so I am ready with antibiotic cream and aseptic care in case.  I am just wondering if there is a flag to fly to say we are ‘unclean’  what with Tina with a very bad cold and Jonathan down I am the only healthy one on board!!

We set sail the same day for Union Island, wind was blowing at 25 -30 knots and a rather uncomfortable sea.  We had arranged to meet Dai and Augusto there (Dai is my niece and Augusto her partner)  it was the ‘Full Moon Party’ with lit kite boarding and good music on the beach.  They saw us arrive and came over in the dingy, so we invited them to have dinner with us first on board of Char Sui Spare Ribs, rice and ratatouille.  Jonathan had perked up a bit so the drugs were working.  He and Augusto got stuck into the Brandy after dinner (we gave up on the beach party as there were very heavy rain squalls coming through) we all eventually got to bed at about 1.30 am.  We met Dai and Augusto for coffee ashore the next morning and talked about cruising plans.  They were going up to Saline Bay tomorrow where it is much more sheltered than here, we are going to Carriacou as Tina has friends there who are staying in their house so we are meeting them tomorrow evening.  We will then sail for the Tobago Cays on Monday to meet up with Dai and Augusto, it is supposed to be calmer on Monday (we hope) so we can do some snorkelling and paddle boarding.

Dai and Augusto have to be in Martinique at the end of next week to meet a friend of Dai’s who is joining them.  We will all meet up again later as we head north after dropping Tina off in St. Lucia next Friday.

Below pictures of our picnic on Macaroni beach.  The airport on Mustique. Tina with the tortoise sculpture, we saw a huge amount of wild ones this time.  Dai, August with Jonathan and I on Union Island.  ‘Spirit of Lusitania’ Augusto’s yacht at anchor on Union Island.  Jackson and Samadar on the sail down to Bequia.  On board Aqualuna last night.  Rodney Bay from Pigeon Island fort.  All the wrong way around but that is how they downloaded!!